Decision on dumpster dog delayed by investigation

Decision on dumpster dog delayed by investigation

PAWTUCKET - City animal control officers said Monday that they'd narrowed down the field of potential homes for their star attraction, a puppy dumped in a dumpster the Friday before Christmas, but couldn't make a final decision until they received approval from local police. As of press time, there was no final determination on where the puppy would go.

Members of the Pawtucket Police Department Detective Division were continuing their investigation into who might have dropped the puppy, a Jack-Russell terrier mix, into a dumpster on West Avenue.

Animal Control Officer John Holmes told The Breeze he wishes there was always this much interest in adopting animals at the shelter, where a record number of more than 400 phone calls were received for the abandoned puppy. The Pawtucket Animal Shelter has been very busy lately during what is typically a slow time of the year, said Holmes. The shelter had "loads of cats" prior to last weekend, said Holmes, but after seven were adopted last Saturday alone, "we're now in great shape."

Holmes said he can't attribute an increased number of adoptions to all the buzz surrounding the puppy, but he said it could be a factor.

Animal control officers always wish that people would be interested in adopting even when there is not a big story about an abandoned puppy, said Holmes. It would be good especially in the summer, "when the jobs are coming in one after another and we're bringing in animals every day," he said.

Pawtucket Animal Control officers post animals needing to be adopted at petfinder.com .